sauté

American  

[soh-tay, saw-] / soʊˈteɪ, sɔ- /

adjective

1. cooked or browned in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

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verb (used with object)

sautéed, sautéing

1. to cook in a small amount of fat; pan-fry.

noun

1. a dish of sautéed food.

sauté British  

/ ˈsəʊteɪ /

verb

1. to fry (food) quickly in a little fat

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noun

1. a dish of sautéed food, esp meat that is browned and then cooked in a sauce

adjective

1. sautéed until lightly brown

   sauté potatoes

Etymology

Origin of sauté

1805–15; < French, past participle of sauter to jump (causative: to toss) < Latin saltāre, frequentative of salīre to jump

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Explanation

To saute is to cook food over high heat, usually in butter or oil. Many recipes begin by instructing you to saute onions and garlic in olive oil. You can saute vegetables, meat, fish, or tofu. The quick, hot method of cooking browns the outer layer of food and keeps the inside flavorful. Sometimes saute is used as an adjective — you might buy your friend who loves to cook a fancy saute pan for his birthday. In French, the word sauté means "jumped" or "bounced," which also describes the way food jumps around the pan when you saute it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sauté sautéed sautéing

If I’m really feeling it, I’ll sauté spinach and kale and put it in there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

In a large sauté pan, heat three tablespoons of olive oil and stir in three large garlic cloves, thinly sliced.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Instead of selling a suite of diverse products, millennial brands focused on the “only” T-shirt, mattress or sauté pan you’ll ever need.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026

But with you, it’s, ‘Well, can I sauté it in brown butter?’

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024

All we need to do is sauté olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, chopped parsley, and tomatoes together in a pot, and prepare spaghetti to go with it.”

From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket

From there, the menu moves to the restaurant’s specialties: hand-cut steaks aged in-house, sautéed scallops and pan-fried walleye.

From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026

Matijevich prefers using fresh clams, which are added after the carrots, celery and leeks have been sautéed.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026

An even older icon awaits at Phnom Penh, a 40-year-old Vietnamese-Cambodian restaurant where crowds eagerly wait their turn to try nearly-raw marinated butter beef and lotus root sautéed with chilies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

In one corner, sautéed bitter gourd—in another, briny sea grapes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

They found the smell of new paint for a grand opening, dinner specials being simmered, sautéed, baked, or fried.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Having dishes prepared in the same kitchen sections slows things down, so the options needed to vary between broiling, sautéing and frying shrimp, and options with or without pasta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

It has a smoke point between 375 and 410°F, which is more than sufficient for most cooking methods, including sautéing, roasting and grilling.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025

Roasting and sautéing are the most popular methods used to enhance Brussels sprouts’ earthy, nutty and sweet flavor.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 14, 2023

This leaves the shrimp tender and briny, without any of the browned, caramelized notes you would get from sautéing.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2023

That is the difference between sautéing and frying but there are one or two points about frying—this much abused way of cooking—that must be borne in mind if one would have the best results.

From Armour's Monthly Cook Book, Volume 2, No. 12, October 1913 A Monthly Magazine of Household Interest by Mary Jane McClure

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